Follow me on Twitter

Community

Tag: politics

Please do not forget Cecil the Lion, because the slaughter of animals for fun, or recreation, must be stopped.

Feel free to pass this video on and if possible take part in Animal Welfare organizations and the like, for every action against barbaric behaviour towards animals brings us closer to ending animal cruelty where ever it exists.

A wold free of cruelty towards animals -and people- is the kind of world in which most of us want to live in and I know that -apart from psychopaths- we all want the same for future generations.

In this New-Age of Information we feel ourselves increasingly lucky to have access to a host of different opinions on an endless range of topics. But with the concentration of the Media in Australian Society the public is at risk of having their opinions shaped to suit the ambitions of the few, rather than the ambitions of the many. In light of this, the Australian Government is looking to introducing new Media Law Reforms that have been met with an all out assault from News LTD and opposition from the Liberal-National Party, while wider opinion agrees that the new Media Law reforms, announced by Senator Conroy , are essentially `light weight, as expressed in the following article from The Conversation that offers An Academic View of New Media Reforms The idea that the new Media Reforms are `light weight` have also left some people, with less faith in the Media remaining self regulated, arguing that the Reforms do not go far enough.

In view of the importance of Press freedom in a free society, the new Media reforms probably do go far enough without impinging on ideas, which can equally be challenged in a free media society. The ABC and SBS are important safety-nets where the concentration of media exists, as is the safety net governing future media merges that need to pass a `public interest test` overseen by a government appointed administrator. This aspect of the reforms is possibly the most welcomed by those who understand the fundamental importance of Media diversity to a Democratic Society, which is why the Media has always been subject to certain regulations with it being `a beast` with the potential to rip society apart through means of persuasion, or propaganda. The Government wants the new reforms passed within a week and says that it will not negotiate on any of it`s 1all or nothing` Media Reform package, that also includes requiring the Media to offer the public a certain amount of Australian content.

What Governments do has an impact on all society and so too the Media with its power to shape opinion. There is no appetite for censorship in the new reforms that need to be properly understood along with the current Media Laws, which are not up with the on-line developments taking over in Australia`s media landscape that the reforms attempt to address. This is not to argue that the media reforms ought to be passed, as without having access to them there remains a reluctance to come to this conclusion, but for Politicians who have access to the reforms, it is of paramount importance that the reforms are well focused on and not simply dismissed on the basis of News LTD`s objections too them. The reforms are not draconian according to the voices of reason so far, which are not on Big Media`s payroll. As for the Opposition`s opposition to the changes, predictable! The LNP are a Party that wants to win the next Federal Election against Labor and positions itself in the same corner as big players like Rupert Murdoch and Gina Reinhart.

An unchecked Media can persuade a society to willingly step into an Orwellian nightmare after being fed on a diet of propaganda. It happened to the Germans and it can happen anywhere at anytime where information can be manipulated, or withheld. News LTD makes no secret of supporting the Liberal-National Coalition and feeds the public big doses of front page assaults on the Prime Minister and her Government. Negative opinion commentary on the Prime Minister has also become the norm across much of the Media, which has resulted in the opinion Polls showing Government disapproval to be high. No Government can withstand a high level of the media pitching against it and no just society can hold it together where people vote against their own interest. Media Corporations engage in what is best for their own business, not social joy.